Tackle Eric Fisher from Central Michigan holds up the team jersey after being selected first overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2013 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)

At this point, Steinbrecher could have walked into a room filled with bloated egos and shouted: "Our top draft pick is higher than yours."

Steinbrecher didn't.

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Still, these are shout-inducing times for Steinbrecher's conference.

The MAC commissioner has sufficient reason for attending BCS meetings because one of his league's own, Northern Illinois, qualified for the Orange Bowl. Northern Illinois earned the bid by defeating another one of his league's own, Kent State. In double overtime. In a memorable conference title game.

And if Kent State had won?

The Golden Flashes would have faced Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

Less than five months following the BCS breakthrough, the Chiefs ended a period of intense scouting by drafting Fisher, who entered college as a two-star recruit.

"I was sitting at the BCS meetings when he got drafted, and I couldn't have been prouder," Steinbrecher said in a phone interview with The News-Herald. "What a statement for what some hard work will do. They coached him up, he had great desire and look what happened. It just goes to show that you can be as good as you want to be."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Fisher's embrace on a New York City stage continued an incredible year for the blue-collar conference.

Kent State blasted northern baseball stereotypes by defeating Oregon in a Super Regional to reach the College World Series. The football season started with multiple victories over Big Ten schools, including Ohio University's triumph over Penn State at massive Beaver Stadium. Northern Illinois and Kent State then jockeyed for BCS rating position as Fisher developed into a dependable tackle.

The winter started with Missouri and Northern Iowa joining the conference for wrestling purposes. In an era of college athletics filled with sudden shifts, the wrestling additions represent the MAC's biggest expansion play.

"There's an instability in the system because people are changing things and sometimes they are changing things for the wrong reason," Steinbrecher said. "Some folks think that if you change conferences it's going to make your program better. It's not the conference that makes your program better, it's the programs that make the conference better."

Rivalries, geography, astute coaching hires and similar expenditures has produced stability, Steinbrecher said. The stability has produced big victories in bunches.

"We truly believe the top teams in our league can compete nationally," Steinbrecher said.

College sports will change again in 2014, when a four-team football playoff begins. Steinbrecher was involved in discussions regarding the future of college football last week.

Signs point toward the eventual formation of four, 16-team super-sized conferences competing for the quartet of playoff spots.

Steinbrecher and other MAC officials seem content to watch other conferences raid each other. They can observe the shuffling in peace because they know those leading their teams aren't content with the past 12 months.

"You always want to do more," Steinbrecher said. "The challenge now is that the success we are having doesn't become the exception. It's easy to talk about, but it's not easy to do.

"We want to be competing for BCS bids and we want to be competing for host bowls in this new system. We want to have teams go deep into NCAA tournaments. We want folks competing at the highest level. That's our expectation and we will continue to push for that."